Bouquets
by Burning Fate
Summary: All Chihiro ever wanted was a bouquet; a pretty one, but not as a going away gift. No Face tries to give her what she wants, to wipe the sad look off of her face, to see her beautiful smile, but Chihiro won't accept them.


**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT IN ANY WAY, OR WILL EVER, OWN SPIRITED AWAY.**

**SPIRITED AWAY BELONGS TO STUDIO GHIBLI AND Hayao Miyazaki. **

* * *

One night he had over heard Chihiro telling Haku how she had always wanted a bouquet, and how depressing it was when the first time she got one it was a going away gift. She had explained the flowers to him very specifically; bright pink, perky flowers. And if you looked on the inside, they were a deep red, almost as if the flowers had blood of their own. He held out an inky black hand, twirling his thumb and index finger until a red rose appeared. If No Face could make one rose, he could make Chihiro a bouquet of them.

Chihiro had been mopping the floor of the room that contained the big bath that was reserved only for the most disgusting, dirty, smelly spirits now for hours. The green and black sludge was caked on to the wooden floors and almost seemed as if it were permanently glued to the inside of the big bath. As Chihiro prepared to climb back into the bath, No Face appeared behind her, towering over her. She jumped in fright, slipping and was preparing to dive head first into the sludge pit, but was caught by a black hand that had grabbed a hold of the white bow tied onto her back.

"Oh. It's you." Chihiro exclaimed. No Face just smiled at her in return. Chihiro bowed before him and thanked him. A ruffling noise crumpled near her ears and she quickly brought her head up to see No Face holding a big bouquet of bright pink flowers.

"Ah, ah." No Face moaned, holding out the flowers. Chihiro looked at them for a while before shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, but I'm working right now. I can't accept them. But thank you." She said. No Face's smile slowly turned to a lonely frown and he again tried to give her the bouquet, hands trembling. But Chihiro just shook her head again.

"Maybe later though." She said, turning around and running to grab a mop. No Face sadly moaned and the flowers in his hands began to fade and crumple, petals falling to the floor and turning to dirt.

OoOoO

No Face had made an even bigger bouquet for Chihiro and since the work day was over, he thought that she would now accept them. He materialized the flowers, getting every single little detail in, and walked along the wall that led to the bridge. Before he could round the corner, he heard a girl giggling.

"Haku, I love them! Thank you so much!" came Chihiro's voice, followed by a loud crumpling noise. No Face peaked around the wall and saw something that nearly broke his lonely heart; Haku had given Chihiro the exact same bouquet of flowers and she now held them close to her, her cheeks matching their shade.

"I saw them at a Spirit Market and thought I'd get them for you." Haku said with a smile on his face, cheeks a faint pink. No Face held the bouquet in his trembling right hand as he sadly moaned. He was going to give Chihiro the bouquet and now he couldn't. Why would she want one when she already has one?

No Face dropped the bouquet and walked away from the bridge, frowning and if it were possible, he would have been crying. He walked down the concrete stairs and through the main street of markets and restaurants, housing wandering and tired spirits. He didn't stop walking until he had made it to the hill-side and came to where the stairs were cut off by water. He sat on the grass and stared into the clear liquid that he now leaned over. All he saw of himself was his black figure and the mask he wore. At that moment, all he wanted was to see another reflection in the water. He didn't want to feel so alone. Someone, anyone could reflect and it would make him happy, but no one ever came.

OoOoO

From the bridge, Chihiro could see the huge boat that brought spirits across the ocean nearing the shore. Now that she was used to spirits, she really came too actually like them. She was excited now to see that boat crossing the ocean every evening.

"Haku! Let's go see the spirits!" She asked, but Haku shook his head and told Chihiro that he had business to attend to, changing to his dragon form and flying to the top floor of the bathhouse. Chihiro still wanted to go see the spirits, so she held on to her bouquet and ran over the bridge. As she crossed over the bridge and past the wall, something caught her eye. She looked over, seeing a bushel of pink and walked over to it. It was a bouquet. Leaning over them and looking them up and down, Chihiro noticed a small, yellow card hanging from the flowers. She took it and read what was written on it.

'_To the first person who has ever treated me kindly, Sen. I hope to be your friend.' _There was no name written underneath or on the back of the card. Chihiro looked back down at the flowers and gasped, falling backwards onto her bum as the bouquet started to blacken and die. She looked at the card in her hand one last time before the paper dispersed into black smoke.

No Face looked up, seeing a large boat pull into the shore and the lit doors on all four floors open simultaneously. Masked beings walked out and off of the boat, No Face frowning as he noticed that each spirit had a partner to walk off and away with.

"E-Excuse me, Mr. No Face?" Came the voice of a girl from behind him.

"Ah!" No Face shouted and sprang to his feet, jumping away with a shroud of black flowing behind him. It was Chihiro again. The black shroud lowered to his feet and the two stood and stared at each other in silence. No Face sat back down on the grass and looked in to the water at, again, his own reflection. The grass ruffled as Chihiro walked to his side and sat down too, her reflection beside his.

Chihiro looked at No Face's reflection, noticing that he was frowning and had his head almost turned away from her.

"No Face," Chihiro said, No Face's eye holes in his mask curving to form a questioning expression, "there was something behind the bathhouse wall; a bouquet. Were they from you?" She asked. No Face's eye holes grew wide.

"Ah…eh…" He moaned, holding his hands up ad forming one of the small flowers in his hand, then letting it turn into dying petals and fall on the waters surface. Chihiro stared at the petals as they drifted away and looked at the bouquet that she had gotten from Haku. She had forgotten about earlier in the day that No Face had tried to give her the same flowers, but refused. And now she had accepted them from someone else. Of course he would be hurt by that. Anyone would; spirit or not.

Chihiro looked at her bouquet and grunted.

No Face heard a great sploosh and looked over at Chihiro. She had thrown her bouquet into the water.

"Ah, ah?" He moaned.

"I'm sorry No Face. I understand how you felt now. It was a mean thing for me to do." She said. No Face stared at Chihiro, then looked over into the water at the drifting bouquet. Chihiro thought for sure that No Face was going to be angry with her and hung her head down, staring at her hands which were folded in her lap.

_Splash. Drip, drip, shake._ The noises made Chihiro look up quickly to see a wet bouquet in front of her, held out by a black arm. No Face had grabbed Haku's flowers out of the ocean and was trying to give them back to Chihiro.

She grabbed them and held them.

"Thank you, No Face." She smiled at the spirit. Now when she looked at the bouquet, the flowers glistened with the little orbs of water that had stuck to their petals and they had reflected the image of the bright moon.

"They're even more beautiful than before!" She told him.

"Ah. Ah!" No Face moaned, frown slowly turning to a grin. Chihiro stood up and waved a finger for No Face to come closer to her. He leaned down and cocked his head in wonder of what she could have wanted. Then, Chihiro gently kissed the cheek of his mask.

"Ah!" He moaned, mask a deep red, but his grin grew bigger. As Chihiro left, No Face looked back into the water and saw his smile. He rubbed his mask where Chihiro had kissed him and he knew that he had finally become one of her friends and that he was no longer alone.


End file.
